Peter Gallagher is one of the busiest actors on television (and he has the delightful ZOEY’S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST coming up in January), but he admits he’s hoping to visit a former series in the near future: LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT.

Gallagher’s Chief Dodds joined the long-running drama in 2014, and appeared sporadically over the next five years. But in the season 21 premiere, Dodds was demoted—after making sure that Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) was officially promoted to become SVU’s captain.

“I hope [to return], because I loved playing the chief on that show,” Gallagher says. “I’m just glad [showrunner] Warren [Leight]’s back. He created the character—there’s nothing like it when he writes those scenes. He’s given me some of the best stuff I’ve ever had to do.”

Gallagher, a New Yorker, admits he loves the reaction he gets while in the city from people who dig his character. But it’s the environment on set he misses the most. “Mariska and the guys on the crew, they’re just like my family—and they sound like my family…I feel like I’m home,” he says. “So I just love putting on my shield and bugging Mariska. I just love her. So who knows [if there will be a return]? At least they didn’t kill me.”